Paris, Marseille, Nice, Strasbourg and Interlaken

That order of travel includes doubling back, but it's feasible. Do you return to Paris to fly out, or fly from Switzerland? You might save some travel time to go in this order: Paris-Strasbourg-Interlaken-Marseille-Nice. Interlaken-Marseille by train takes about 7 hours, while Nice-Strasbourg is closer to 9 hours; either way, it's a full day by train. How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. It could also be affordable to fly the longer leg; try www.skyscanner.com.

Dear Laura,
thank you for your reply. I return to Paris to fly out.
With your suggested route followed by ending in Paris, may I know which rail tickets or passes would you suggest? Ideally, I would like to stay in Paris for 3days, Strasbourg for 2 days, Interlaken 4 days, Marseille 3 days, Nice 3 days, ending in Paris for another 2days.

When you speak of days, what exactly do you mean? We tend to think that thinking in terms of nights is easier. Remember that 2 nights only gets you 1 full day, and so on; and you need to consider when your moving from place will happen and how that will impact time to see what you have gone so very far to see.

Your trips are all reasonably shortish, or can be, except for the big trip from Nice to Strasbourg and the run back from Interlaken to Paris.

Are you counting your arrival and departure days in the days you count above?

Have you considered staying up in the mountains, on one side of the other of the Lauterbrunnen Valley - Muerren, Wengen, Gimmelwald or perhaps Grindelwald - instead of being half an hour to an hour away but a world away? If you want to see the mountains, Interlaken isn't it. It took me 6 trips to get that through my head. Trust me.

Dear Nigel,
thank you for your reply.
For Paris, it would be 2nights, Strasbourg 1 night, Interlaken 3nights, Marseille 2 nights, Nice 2 nights and Paris 1 night.
My dates do not include arrival or departure. Definitely, I would like to stay up in the mountains to get a close-up experience. Which mountain would you recommend for the stayover? And do you have a hotel or apartment to recommend? Also, does this mean that I will skip the scenic train right up the mountains?
My days in these places are short. Hence, between Marseille and Nice, which would you advise to go to, for a first-time visit to Europe?

The easy question first -

Marseille and Nice

For a first timer - Nice in a heartbeat.

For the other, I don't see why you would not be on a scenic train. The train which goes up to Lauterbrunnen and with onwards travel towards the mountain villages and the summits of Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn is a cog wheel train.

All the details are in the Rick Steves Switzerland book, complete with maps and reviews of hotels.

From Lauterbrunnen you can go up the cliff to the right, to Muerren and Gimmelwald; to the left, to Wengen and further to Grindelwald; or stay in the valley in Lauterbrunnen.

All of this is much clearer if you look in the book.

If you want to go up the Jungfraujoch you just join the same train that you would have taken from Interlaken but further up the line.

If I were choosing? No question - I would (and have done) choose Muerren. There are several choices, detailed in the book, depending on the type of place you want and price level.

Dear Nigel,
thank you very much for your reply. You have been very helpful on your advises! I look forward to the mountains even more!

Nigel is exactly correct. Do NOT waste your time in Interlaken. The Swiss Alps is what you came here to see so stay in them by staying in Mürren, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen or Gimmelwald. Like Nigel I think Mürren is the absolute best of all places.